After his strike in the Uefa Champions League on Wednesday, the Morocco international sealed the Blues’ progression to the FA Cup semi-finals
Chelsea star Hakim Ziyech continued his goalscoring revival under Thomas Tuchel with his late strike in the Blues’ 2-0 victory over Sheffield United in an FA Cup quarter-final clash on Sunday.
The 28-year-old, who started on the bench at Stamford Bridge, replaced Billy Gilmour in the 72nd minute and later sealed their passage into the semi-finals with his stoppage-time goal after Oliver Norwood’s own goal put the Blues ahead in the 24th minute.
Ziyech’s effort means he has now scored the same number of goals (two) under nine appearances with Tuchel as he did in 17 fixtures under the German’s predecessor, Frank Lampard.
Four days ago, the Morocco international ended his 19-game goal drought in all competitions with the opening goal in Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat of Atletico Madrid in the return fixture of their Uefa Champions League outing.
Under Lampard, Ziyech’s goals also came in back-to-back games as the Blues defeated Krasnodar in a Champions League group game on October 28 and he followed it up with another goal in their 3-0 Premier League win over Burnley, three days later.
Aside his contribution of four goals across all competitions this campaign, the former Ajax playmaker has provided three Premier League assists so far for the Blues.
At the end of Sunday’s encounter, Tuchel confirmed Ziyech’s readiness to join Vahid Halilhodzic’s Morocco selection for their Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers but Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy will be unavailable to join Aliou Cisse’s set-up because of a tooth surgery.
The German manager said: “Hakim Ziyech will be going away on international duty. Edouard Mendy will be staying because he’s got a tooth operation.”
Ziyech already has three goals for Morocco in the qualifying series and they all came in a double-header fixture against the Central African Republic in November 2020.
The Atlas Lions comfortably sit at the top of Group E with 10 points from four games and they are scheduled to play Mauritania on March 26 and they host Burundi four days later on their home soil.
Next up for Ziyech and his Chelsea teammates after international duty is a Premier League match against West Bromwich Albion on April 3.
